We take a look at what visitors can expect at the Thackray Museum of Medicine this festive season.
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00:00 I'm Edward Appleyard, I'm Chief Executive here at the Thackray Museum of Medicine.
00:03 We've got a lovely festive season to look forward to here at the Thackray
00:07 Museum of Medicine which includes of course the bumper school holidays with
00:10 Christmas being so close to the start of school holidays this year, you get two full
00:13 weeks of Christmas period immediately following. We are following cultures
00:18 around the world this year as part of our Christmas experience which is linked
00:21 very closely with different cultures of food and children and adults alike will
00:26 be able to enjoy a lovely 90-minute festive experience, enjoying a trail
00:31 around the museum, getting a photo opportunity in our stunning sleigh and
00:35 following trails and then obviously a great opportunity to meet Father
00:39 Christmas himself and discover his favourite foods from around the world too.
00:45 Of course museums are meant to be fun places to be and part of a fun
00:53 experience obviously introducing all these different ideas from around the
00:56 world but part of our responsibility is unlocking stories about different
01:00 cultures, about societies right here in Leeds and different cultures right in
01:03 Leeds. I mean right next door in Hare Hills we have one of the most diverse
01:07 populations in this wonderful city and it's absolutely brilliant to be sharing
01:11 some of those stories from people that live right on our doorstep that affect
01:15 us around the globe. The Thackray has been known since its
01:18 inception for its rather gruesome Victorian street, you know everything
01:21 from the butchers to the dunny and the water pump that shouldn't be there and
01:25 everything in between. So I mean it wouldn't be the Thackray Museum if there
01:29 wasn't a bit of gore including a rat trail to follow but we've just made them
01:33 a bit festive in our Victorian streets but actually we've added a hint of a
01:37 Victorian Christmas of course as well so expect candles and pigeons you know nice
01:44 decoration too and Christmas has been enjoyed for centuries. Of course it was
01:48 Prince Albert in the Victorian era that really made the Christmas tree popular
01:52 and of course we've got Christmas trees across the museum too but our
01:55 Victorian Street itself doesn't feature any they wouldn't have been around then.
01:58 Now our apothecary is a magical space all year round we've got an absolutely
02:03 beautiful collection of old apothecary pots that go around at least 400 years
02:08 old and it's so huge when you look at it it's a lot to take in. Of course we're
02:13 giving that the festive treatment too and Father Christmas himself will be
02:16 sat amongst those apothecary jars when he discovers his Christmas journey.
02:21 Father Christmas is with us every weekend right up until the 23rd of
02:24 December obviously he's got an awful lot of work to fit into a very short amount
02:28 of time from then on however after Christmas itself we're open again.
02:34 Christmas here at the Thackray is really meant for everybody and as such this
02:38 year we're really delighted to be holding BSL Father Christmas sessions as
02:42 well as relaxed opening sessions for our Christmas experience too so if you've
02:46 not had the opportunity to experience the museum in that way before we'd
02:49 really welcome you this year and also look out for our lovely shop we've got
02:54 craft activities we've got some amazing food in the cafe too to really make it a
02:59 wonderful festive time.